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Reviewed by Robert Collier III for Readers' Favorite
GalactiCats: Showdown with Pickles and Roaches by Phillip Wolf follows Sergeant Smiley and his crew (Marble Games, Dixie Brains, and Chunky Monkey) as they jump from a rough mission on planet WARTHOLE straight into a galactic crisis. After a shaky landing on their home turf, the cats find out that a cyborg unicorn named Pickles and his roach sidekick, Roaches, are planning to use a giant machine called the Litter-Vac 3000 to steal cat litter to help weaponize their space colonies. The villains are even turning innocent tree frogs into cybernetic pawns to harvest energy roots on planet NOT-4-CELL. The cats have to chase them down, intercept frog-piloted pods, and even figure out if an information broker named Professor Toad Croak is actually helping them or setting a trap. Can a team of exhausted cats outmaneuver a unicorn before their litter boxes are emptied for good?
Phillip Wolf’s sci-fi adventure is a wild, imaginative ride that moves at a breakneck pace through Cat’s Eye Galaxy. I enjoyed the fun contrast between the high-tech gear and the animal cast. I thought Dixie Brains hacking into frog implants with her cybernetic eye was a clever touch, just like how Chunky Monkey’s fire-blasting butt jet adds a silly sort of humor to the story. Meanwhile, Marble Games is always ready with a well-placed marble bomb; her knack for building unique gear on the fly makes her feel like the real backbone of the crew. Between all the sleep deprivation and the heroics, the dynamic between the weary cats feels very authentic. Seeing Smiley grapple with the ethics of how to handle the mind-controlled frogs added a nice touch I didn't expect to see in a children’s book about space cats. GalactiCats: Showdown with Pickles and Roaches is a creative story that I’d recommend to anyone who wants a goofy but high-stakes space opera to read next.
